The New Commandment
1 John • Sermon • Submitted
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· 6 viewsThe Commandment which is both new and not new, from the beginning and fresh every day. The foundational attribute of Christians is that we love one another, it is "the mark of the Christian." This sheds light on our christianity, both to those observing from outside, and also to us in introspection.
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The book of First John, in a large way, was written so that Christians may have more certainty about their faith.
1 John 5:13
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
To develop this sense of assurance or security, John lays out several tests for us as believers to examine, both in our lives in introspection, and for others to see as well.
The foremost test in 1 John is the Fellowship test, which encompasses chapter 1 in its entirety.
that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
This fellowship test is crucial. If you remember from several weeks ago when we looked at the first few verses, we said that "fellowship" is having in common - the most important thing that we have in common as believers is the Gospel - Jesus Christ and His work on our behalf. If we do not have these, we have no true fellowship. Conversely, if we do have this, then we have the basis for true Christian fellowship.
In chapter 2, John gives three more tests for the believers.
The first is the Test of Righteousness, or the test of obedience.
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
John communicates that it is God's will of desire that we do not sin, but when we do, we have forgiveness. He goes on to argue that this promise of forgiveness fuels holiness in the believer, rather than fueling license or disobedience.
Skipping over our text for today, John addresses another test, which is the test of sound doctrine.
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
John reinforces this truth, that God's sheep know Him by the Truth. He has revealed the truth to them in His Word, and they remain in that truth. This is a mark of the believer.
But zeroing back in on our passage today, we come to see yet another test for the believers, and that is the social test, or the test of love.
The Test of Love
Francis Schaeffer put it this way in saying, "Love is the mark of the Christian."
"Love is the preeminent mark of a genuine believer. Love for God is the benchmark of one's relationship to Him, and love for other people is the epitome of human relationships." John MacArthur
We do not have to search very hard to find this in the scriptures. Jesus is recorded in this dialogue with the Pharisees, listen to His insight.
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
And perhaps more famously, in John 13:34-35 Jesus puts it this way.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
We see then, that not only is love for God and one another commanded of believers, but it is also seen as a mark by which true believers will be recognized. "By this all people will know that you are my disciples."
As we examine this passage in 1 John, I hope we see this:
"Our Christian love is a test that shows not only the world, but also ourselves that we are true believers."
The Old and New Commandment. - Vv. 7-8
The Old and New Commandment. - Vv. 7-8
In previous verses, John clearly admonishes believers to keep God's commandments, but here he zeroes in on and brings foreward one commandment specifically, which is the command to love.
Although the word "love" it is not mentioned until verse 10, it is clear exactly what commandment John is referring to as he references "the new commandment."
John is following a clear, and logical, progression of thought which is this: If a person knows God, he will keep His commandments. And If he keeps God's commandments, he will love others in accord with the teaching of Scripture.
He reminds his readers that there is nothing really new about this commandment at all, rather it is a truth that they have known from the beginning. This commandment had been taught throughout history and throughout the biblical text.
For instance, Leviticus 19:18
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
When Paul instructed the romans on Brotherly love, he quotes from the ten commandments.
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
By this Paul himself is showing that this commandment to love is nothing new.
When John says that they have had this commandment "from the beginning," we really see two senses to which he may be referring. Both are equally true.
Firstly, he is pointing out that the commandment is older than they are, and it originated before them as it existed with God himself from eternity.
Jesus gives us a snapshot into this in His prayer to the Father in John 17.
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Before humanity existed, there was perfect love on display within the Trinity. Truly, this is from the beginning.
But not only is this commandment of love from the beginning in an eternal sense, but also in a very practical sense, in this way: This is the kind of ABC's of christian obedience that every follower of Christ knows about. Before they understood the finest points of doctrine, they understood that they were to love as Christ loved. It is central, primary, can't live without it material to the Christian experience.
So this is not new material, not a brainchild of the Apostle, not novel information that had yet to be revealed. It is an old commandment, but it is also new. How is this possible?
James Boice puts it this way.
"In what sense, then, is the command to love a new commandment? It is new in that it was raised to an entirely new emphasis and level by the teaching and example of Jesus." James M. Boice
John says, "At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you..."
The key to the newness of this command is not in its age, but in is expression - namely the person of Christ. Never before had true love been expressed as it was in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
There are a couple of ways to express "newness" in the language of the New Testament. This one is "kainos" which speaks more to the quality or essence of being new than it does of the chronological newness of something.
For instance, you may say "I built a new house" or "I bought a new pair of shoes" and by that, you mean something that is brand new, it didn't exist to you before.
You may also say, "I have a new lease on life" or "I feel like a new man." These are entirely different statements than a new house or a new car.
Another word we may use in the place of "new" is "fresh." Newly realized, newly expressed, newly made known in Christ.
In Christ's ministry his love reached to an extent not seen before by his people, it went to a length that it had not previously gone to in that it went to the cross.
But it also is new in the degree to which it is seen.
"it is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining."
The comparison of "light" and "darkness" is common in John's writing. Here he uses it to illustrate the newness of this commandment of love. Previously the commandments were seen as a way to God, a means to please Him. Now this commandment of love is being seen because of God. Primarily, because of the true Light, Jesus Christ, which gives light for us to see beyond the shadows of darkness, because the darkness is passing away.
Jesus is the true light.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
To put it in the words of Paul, we see this "new, Fresh" commandment because
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
The commandment of love - Old in its chronology and its teaching, but new and fresh in its expression and realization in the person of Christ.
The Old and New Life - Vv. 9-11
The Old and New Life - Vv. 9-11
The New Life is pictured in verse 10.
True love for the brothers is evidence of new life in Christ - it is proof that one is abiding in the light.
John goes on to say that in them is no cause for stumbling.
This may be applied in two ways.
First, it shows that the one who is in the light and loving his brothers does not cause his brother to stumble. He does not cause them to sin.
But also, it refers to the person themselves. Not only do they not cause or tempt others to sin, but they also do not occasion themselves to sin either by having disdain toward the brothers.
This second application is almost stronger. As the passage is not focusing necessarily on looking outward, but on looking inward to the effects of light and darkness.
But John commits verses 9 and 11 to describing the old life, or the person who does not have love.
John puts a large emphasis in this epistle on our profession of faith being more than just words.
If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,
Paul said something similar to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 13:2
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
In verse 11, John goes on to show that the one who is characterized by hating his brother, and not love, is not just a liar as he pointed out earlier, but he is "in the darkness"
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
John plays on this teaching of Christ later in the epistls in 1 John 3:15
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
Not only is he in the darkness, but he is walking in the darkness.
Walking, here, refers to the encompassing pattern of his life. It is not just that he is blind for the moment, but rather that he is totally blind.
He is in darkness, walking in darkness, and is essentially aimless.
So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
This is not the characteristic of a genuine believer who is troubled by sin for a season, John is referring to those who do not know Christ.
They are in the darkness, because they do not have the true light that he mentioned in verse 8. Their need is to come to Christ.
So what of this test of love? As we saw so many times in the sermon on the mount. If, upon examining your life, you do see this law of love at work, then this is cause for rejoicing! This is evidence of the true light shining within you.
However, if there is no evidence of this law of love, let the words of scripture serve as a warning to you, and an admonition to come to Christ!
"Our Christian love is a test that shows not only the world, but also ourselves that we are true believers."